1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an input device inputting position data and coordinate data into a computer, and an electronic device provided with the input device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The input device of the aforementioned type includes a magnetic member and a magnetic sensor, for example. The sensor detects the position of the magnetic member. The detection signal is analyzed by a computer so as to be used for various control operations.
Recently, an input device with compact structure has been desired so as to be adapted to a small-sized and lightweight electric device. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-49015 discloses the technology for reducing the size, especially the thickness of an input device.
The aforementioned input device includes two magnetic sensors and a switch. The magnetic sensors are configured to detect the position of the magnetic member in directions of X-axis and Y-axis among three mutually-orthogonal axes (X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis).
Meanwhile, the switch is used to detect the position in the direction of Z-axis. The position of the magnetic member in the Z-axis direction may be detected on the basis of the amount of depressing the switch.
The above-described related art requires both the magnetic sensors and the switch for detecting the three-dimensional operation of the magnetic member, resulting in a complicated structure of the input device.
The use of the magnetic sensors and the switch for detecting the three-dimensional operation of the magnetic member may further complicate the process for locating the magnetic member, which causes a problem that the position of the magnetic member is not detected accurately. Locating the magnetic member requires the respective detection results of both the magnetic sensors and the switch to be analyzed together.
In the above-described related art, detecting the three-dimensional operation of the magnetic member only by the magnetic sensors is not considered in particular.